The CCTO or the Cebu City Transportation Office welcomes the move to allow jeepneys to ply their routes 24/7 in Cebu City. | CDN Digital file photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City Transportation Office or CCTO hopes the move to allow jeepneys to ply the city’s streets for 24 hours a day can address the overloading of passengers of jeepneys during rush hours because of a lack of transport at those times.
“There is really a lack of public transport especially between the hours of 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., and also early in the morning, which results to overloading of passengers, said CCTO Spokesperson Paul Gotiong in a text message to CDN Digital today, June 26.
“So in a way, it is welcomed. We just hope that operators will not allow the drivers to overload, and instead practice religiously our minimum health protocols given,” said CCTO spokesperson Gotiong said.
He said the decision to allow jeepneys to ply their routes 24/7 would be a great help but he believed that operators of modern jeepneys would not dispatch a lot of their units at those hours.
“As for the traditional jeepneys, it will be dependent on the drivers to ply. For sure, it will be minimal,” the CCTO spokesperson said.
He also assured that they had 24/7 deployment since the pre-COVID-19 pandemic days and these mobile patrols would handle any traffic incidents with the jeepneys now allowed to ply their routes 24/7.
Whether a lot of traditional and modern jeepneys will ply the whole day, Gotiong said they have 24/7 deployment ever since the pre-COVID-19 pandemic, mostly on mobile patrols.
Earlier, Councilor James Cuenco, head of the Cebu City Jeepney Task Force, reminded operators of traditional and modern jeepneys that they can ply the streets 24 hours a day, even during curfew hours.
This is in response to the need for a mode of transportation for workers taking night shifts, though Cuenco noted that some companies are providing shuttles for them, he stressed that others are still reliant to public transport.
Cuenco, however, said it is up for the jeepney drivers whether they will ply or not, but urged them to do so at night, particularly those taking the routes in business parks, as well as those traversing the major hospitals in the city.
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